ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY THE POLITICS OF TECHNOLOGY: DISCOURSE IN PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY BY: NEBIYOU ERMIAS ASFAW OCTOBER, 2015 ADDIS ABABA ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY THE POLITICS OF TECHNOLOGY: DISCOURSE IN PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY BY: NEBIYOU ERMIAS ASFAW ADVISOR: SETARGEW KENAW (PhD) A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES OF ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF ARTS IN PHILOSOPHY OCTOBER, 2015 ADDIS ABABA ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY THE POLITICS OF TECHNOLOGY: DISCOURSE IN PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY BY: NEBIYOU ERMIAS ASFAW APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS _____________________ __________________ _________________ ADVISOR DATE SIGNATURE ____________________ __________________ _________________ EXAMINER DATE SIGNATURE ____________________ __________________ _________________ EXAMINER DATE SIGNATURE Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to extend my heartfelt and deepest gratitude to my teacher and mentor Setargew Kenaw (PhD). It‘s through his all-rounded and insightful lectures and the personal conversations we had that I was able to gain an insight into philosophy of technology. I would also like to thank my advisor for providing me with all the necessary materials and going through every part of this thesis. My thanks also goes to my instructors in the philosophy department of Addis Ababa University who have greatly contributed to my intellectual development. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to all my classmates and my friends Robel Fantu, Hayelom Leul, Blen Fikadu, Girum Ashenafi, Ermias Kebede, and Yemane Gebru for the debate and discussions we made in regards to technology and other philosophical problems which contribute to the richness of the study. I also thank Helen Gebre for her love and moral support. Finally, I am most indebted to my mother Abebech Kitaba, my father Ermias Asfaw, my brother Esubalew Ermias, my sister Tinbite Ermias, and my aunt Askale Asfaw as well as to my friends who offered me moral supports and encouragements during the study. i Table of Contents Title Page Acknowledgements..…………………………………………………………………….….……..I Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………..…...II CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………….1 1.1 Conceptual Framework………………………………………………………………………..1 1.2 Problem Statement…………………………………………………………………………….8 1.3 Organization of the Thesis…………………………………………………………………….9 CHAPTER TWO ON THE NATURE OF TECHNOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW………………………………..11 2.1 Technology: What is in a Name? ……………………………………………………………12 2.1.1 Technology as an Artifact……………………………………………………………...12 2.1.2 Technology as Knowledge……………………………………………………………..13 2.1.3 Technology as a System ……………………………………………………………….15 2.2 Against Technology as a Value Neutral………………………………………………...…...18 2.3 The Interplay between Technology and Politics: Understanding the Nexus …………..........22 2.3.1 Similarities between Technology and Politics…………………………………………22 2.3.2 The Mutual Interaction of Technology and Politics …………………………………..24 CHAPTER THREE DEBATING ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POLITICS OF TECHNOLOGY.29 3.1 Perspectives in the Politics of Technology…………..……………………………………... 30 3.1.1 Technology as Self-Autonomous ……………………………………………………...31 3.1.2 The Intentionalist Perspective …………………………………………………………33 3.1.2.1 Technologically Mediated Intentionality……………………………………….35 3.1.2.2 Cyborg Intentionality…………………………………………………………...37 3.1.3 Social Construction of Technology …………………………………………………...38 3.1.4 Actor-Network Theory…………………………………………………………………42 3.1.5 Postphenomenological Perspective of Technology …………………………………...45 3.2 Concluding Thought ………………………………………………………………………...48 CHAPTER FOUR THE POLITICS IN DESIGNING............ …………………………………………………….51 ii 4.1 Designing ……………………………………………………………………………………52 4.2 Where Do the Politics Lie: Designing and Its Politics……………………….……………...56 4.3 Agents in Design Decision Making………………………………………………….............68 CHAPTER FIVE THE POLITICS OF SOCIAL MEDIA……………………………………………………….71 5.1 Social Media and Politics…………………………………………………………………….71 5.2 Examples of the Role of Social Media in Politics…………………………………………...73 5.2.1 Obama‘s 2008 Campaign and the Social Media……………………………………….74 5.2.2 The Arab Spring and the Social Media………………………………………………...75 5.2.3 The Politics of Social Media in Ethiopia………………………………………………76 CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………………………...84 References……………………………………………………………………………………….88 iii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION This chapter attempts to introduce the thesis ranging from the study area to the specific notion that needs to be addressed. As the title of the paper suggests, the objective of the thesis is to scrutinize the nature of technology from a philosophical point of view. It is an attempt to discuss the phenomenon of technology. In this respect, therefore, the first section of this chapter will try to provide us to the conceptual framework for the thesis. It introduces us to some perspectives on technology. The second section of the chapter will discuss the main argument of the thesis. Finally, the third section of the chapter will set out the outline of the thesis and what we will be dealing within the subsequent chapters. 1.1 Conceptual Framework In the course of our life, whether we realize it or not, human beings constantly cope with technology. Every aspect of human life is intertwined with it and, perhaps, it is considered to be one of the major driving forces of human history. The history of mankind, from the point of technological development, is distinguished into seven stages, ranging from the early Stone Age up to today‘s Electronic Age (McNeil, 2002). Therefore, we can say that technology is part and parcel of our lives. According to Kaplam (2004), when it comes to the twenty-first century, it has become hard to even imagine human life without technology. There is an inseparable connection between human life and technology. To put in Friedrich Rapp‘s words ―to be human is to have a technology‖ (1981: 10). 1 Since technology is part and parcel of our life, we use the name ―technology‖ in the texture of our life. However, despite our daily acquaintance with technology, we do not have a precise understanding of its nature. This is what Andrew Feenberg calls ―the paradox of the obvious‖ (2010: 6). According to him, things which seem most obvious are also most hidden. Even though our life is intertwined with technology, most of us have little or no idea about the nature of technology. This might be because of the complex nature of technology. It has multifaceted characteristic feature. People have disagreed about its nature. Put it differently, there does not seem to be a consensus on what makes technology technology. One of the problems is semantic ambiguity. It has either been applied generally or to specific areas. For instance, as Carl Mitcham (1994) argues, the word ―technology‖ is used by engineers and social scientists in two different senses. Whereas engineers primarily conceptualize technology as the making of technological artifacts, social scientists include a large number of elements, such as the making of material objects; their use; social significance of the design and production of materials; the role and impact of material artifacts, etc. (Mitcham, 1994). Therefore, in my view, our first task should be to come up with a working definition of technology. Obviously, to tell all that technology has meant in the past, and all that it means to various classes of society in the present, would be different. The definition of technology in the past and today is quite different, because the characteristics of technology are dissimilar in different times (Rapp, 1981). In his Analytical Philosophy of Technology (1981), Friedrich Rapp rightly points out that technology should be understood within the historical context in which it functions. He further notes that ―ahistorical definition of 'technology' is impossible‖ (Rapp, 1981: 24). With technological advancement, the characteristic feature of technology would also change. 2 There is an essential difference between traditional and modern technology. Jacques Ellul has a much more elaborate distinction between traditional and modern technologies. He pointed out that, ―traditional technology is based on artisan skill; narrow and limited in its application; dependent on limited resources; local in its character; and spread slowly‖ (1964: 64-69). By contrast, modern technology is characterized by ―automatism, rationality, artificiality, universalism, efficiency, indivisibility, self-augmentation‖ (Ellul, 1964: 79f). According to Ellul‘s distinction, it is hard to find what they have in common. Modern technology has a distinct and contrary character to traditional technology: it is a more rapid, pervasive, all-encompassing, highly specialized, and complex system. Therefore, technology means different things in modern times than in the past. In this paper, then, I shall use the term ―technology‖ in its modern sense. It is also believed that modern technology has an intense and wide spread impact upon all areas of individual and social life than traditional technology. It influences the concrete everyday world, social change, and the environment in general. Perspectives of Philosophy of Technology Let us consider different perspectives and corresponding arguments regarding the nature of technology in which